Hachiman Hikigaya
is the main protagonist of Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru. He is the of the series. He is a student in Class 2F of Sōbu High School and the second member of the Service Club. Appearance Hachiman is a teenage boy of average height with medium-short length black hair. His most prominent features are his set of dead fish-eyes and a short strand of hair that sticks upwards (Ahoge). He is usually seen wearing his school uniform, but sometimes wears a long sleeve undershirt and a casual orange T-shirt. At home he sometimes wears an "I <3 Chiba" shirt spelled with Kanji. In the light novel, Yukino Yukinoshita states that she criticized Hachiman's unattractive facial expression, not his facial features. Yui Yuigahama once mentioned to Saika Totsuka that he is quite plain-looking and it would take quite a lot to notice a person like him (Hachiman). This implies that he is indeed good looking or even handsome if not for his blank expression and dead-fish eyes. According to Komachi Hikigaya, he's not very photogenic. In the drama C.D., Komachi pointed out that his eyes were not always rotten and that they were once normal in pictures and videos when he was younger. The only time Hachiman's normal eyes have ever been seen is in one scene in Episode 12 where Shizuka is talking to Hachiman, it's noted his eyes change. It likely has to do with the importance of the scene. In the anime version whenever Hachiman's past is shown, it should be noted that his eyes are mostly covered by a shadow or purposely not shown to the audience. Personality He is a cynic, stoic, and loner. He does things by himself and has never relied on anyone (other than Komachi). As he does not like to rely on others, he has an unusual prideful side. Hachiman refuses to accept anything he considers pity, sympathy, or charity. Shizuka Hiratsuka describes his personality as "rebellious and loner-prone." She also says that he has the nature of a petty criminal and spineless goon with which Yukino instantly agrees with. She is the first person to point out his rotten eyes and mindset, and that he has a sour attitude. Yukino and Yui often used words such as gross, disgusting and creepy to describe Hachiman. Hachiman is sometimes described as "twisted" by other characters in the series because of the pessimistic way he thinks and the solutions to requests that he comes up with. He often explains his thoughts by using examples from his own life experience by saying "Source: Me". He often blames society and other people for his personality. Hachiman has a self-depreciating, sarcastic, as well as observational style of humor. People who know him and his way of thinking can understand, while others may feel pity for him. Other people are often uncomfortable with his style of humor. Despite being self-depreciating, Hachiman can act quite vain, sometimes claiming that he has a nice face, or that he is a nice person for not seeking revenge on bullies, and that he would be a desirable husband and also claiming that he scores "high points" in his sister's book for his flattery. Hachiman firmly believes that nothing good happens to him and forces himself not to hope for something that is not existent. He makes others hate him as a way to keep himself distant from others so that he won't be disappointed or hurt by their superficial acting. Hachiman dislikes superficial acting just to blend in. Hachiman dislikes youth and believes that youth is simply an illusion created by hypocrites. Hachiman doesn't have a positive opinion of girls. He has a belief of girls not being genuine and only being after looks and money.Volume 1, Chapter 1 - Episode 1 He also believes that "nice girls" should not be trusted easily and have ulterior motives and that people should not feel special when being treated nicely by them as they are nice to everyone else too. Hachiman was the victim of verbal and psychological bullying which has caused him to remain alone and develop his avoidant & pessimistic attitude. Yet, he refuses to change, as he believes that to change is to "lose" and give in to the pressures of the world around you. However, at one point he wanted to forget his past traumatic experiences and wished to reset his life by joining Sobu High School, thus avoiding anyone from his middle school. His plan did not work as he failed to change his avoidant personality. He considers himself to be a hindrance to others and avoids being with them. Hachiman believes that he is insignificant and is thus willing to become the scapegoat, no matter how significant the situation is to him, in order to protect everyone and keep them happy. He turns down all invitations and avoids engaging in all social activities as the first reflex of a loner. Hachiman assumes and fears that there must be some ulterior motive to any invitation he receives because of his experiences of being bullied in the past. However he makes exceptions for those that make a genuine attempt to be friendly with him. Haruno, Shizuka, and Iroha manage to force him to comply however he replies. As well as his fellow Service Club members Yui and Yukino. It should be noted Hachiman will readily accept any invitation if it's from Saika Totsuka or Komachi Hikigaya. Hachiman has a soft spot for younger girls (or little sister type girls) given that he's an older brother himself, as seen by how he treats Komachi, Iroha, Rumi and Keika. He does not count Yukino because of her cold, mature personality. His hobbies include reading, watching TV and sleeping - anything that prevents interaction with others that may result in ridicule or gossip that is targeted at him. It was mentioned that he used to cosplay. He was an otaku to some degree and often makes references to different animes and mangas. Despite his so-called rotten personality, he is kind underneath his exterior surface. He often keeps his face stiff and thus surprising everyone by his concern for the individual. He is mostly result-oriented, hence he is not bothered by any process if it gives him the desired result. However, this often comes at a cost of causing pain to himself and often others in the process. His teacher, Shizuka pointed out that his intentions of helping others are not a good reason for him to hurt himself, as even if he is used to the pain there are those who will find it painful to see him hurt. She also adds that if he sticks to his ways, he will not be able to save the person he wants to save the most. Even though Hachiman doesn't like his own method of doing things, he has pride in his work, and won’t let anyone call it self-sacrifice. Later in the series, Hachiman realizes he justifies his self sacrificing behaviour and vows to change little by little. He gives his word to the service club members that he will do something about his attitude and in a rare display, he shows an emotional side of himself where he was on the verge of tears when he states to Yui and Yukino that he wants "something genuine". Essays, Monologues, and Soliloquies Hachiman's twisted personality can be seen in his recorded essays and school work. * Looking Back on High School Life Report * Ecology of Wild Animals Report * Looking Back on High School Life Report (Revised) * Workplace Tour Application Abilities Hachiman was responsible for house chores when his sister was in elementary school to keep her safe from sharp instruments in the kitchen. He can cook curry pretty well. He has decent artistic skills, as he drew a bear in his Ecology of Wild Animals Report (anime only). He also refers to himself as a "second-rate artist". Hachiman is a fast learner once he applies himself and he is often able to formulate a plan with the given situation and time frame. Hachiman has an impressive grasp of understanding how to manipulate social interactions and dissect the motivations, intentions, judgments, and ascertain hidden meanings in behavior. He tends to read between the lines to see others true motives. He strips away Minami Sagami's, Iroha Isshiki's and Haruno Yukinoshita's facades almost immediately. However, Hachiman isn't always able to guess peoples true motives and is sometimes distracted or blinds himself with his own perception of a person or negative image of himself. Hachiman is shown to be a capable leader, able to organize people and meet assigned project deadlines. A few people that have realized Hachiman's leadership potential and intelligence are Shizuka Hiratsuka, who brought him to the Service Club, Meguri Shiromeguri, and Saki Kawasaki who even mentioned he could be student council president. Isshiki and Kaori notice how well he handles a leadership role during the Christmas Event. He also has decent negotiation skills, as Hachiman is able to convince others to go along with his twisted plans, even if they are against it. Hachiman's 108 Skills Hachiman has his own list of 108 skills he boasts about.Volume 2, Chapter 3. Note that in the official YenPress LN it has been changed to "A vast array of skills". The fan translation, official anime, as well as fan sub all retain the 108 skills moniker. They are not listed in any sort of order. * Finding faults in others. * Cat's cradle. (This is a reference to Nobita from Doraemon) * Human Observation. * Shooting with a gun. (This is another reference to Doraemon) * Feigning Sleep. * Becoming a good guy in later arcs. (again a reference to Gian from Doraemon) * Stealth Hikky.Volume 6.5 - not specifically mentioned as one of his 108 skills * Blabbering to himself. Academics Hachiman is quite''' intelligent. He ranks 3rd in JapaneseMy Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 1; part A behind Hayama (2nd) and Yukino (1st). Hachiman is also proficient in English and other humanities/social science subjects. However, he is incredibly bad at science and math, an example of this being when he confused a hernia for herpes,Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Come wa Machigatteiru Light Novel: Volume 1, Chapter 1 and his summer midterm score of 9/100 in math. Hachiman has an astounding knowledge of Japanese history. He knows that Yoshiteru Zaimokuza's delusions are based on Ashikaga Yoshiteru and a Bodhisattva whom Hachiman shares his name with forcing him to be included in Yoshiteru's delusions. Hachiman knows a lot of things about his home town Chiba and constantly mentions bits of information in conversation. Hachiman has a wide range of trivial knowledge pointed out by Komachi, Yui, Yukino due to reading of variety of books. Athletics Hachiman is skilled at tennis according to Saika. He even invented two techniques that Zaimokuza gave fancy names to, much to his chagrin as he feels there's nothing special about them. Hachiman is skilled at swimming, according to the drama CD , he swam two kilometers in middle school because he had nothing else to do when his class had swim lessons. In middle school Hachiman got 'A' on sports testing earning him a medal (although this was more due to his so-called 'friend' sardonically recording false shuttle-run times). He also has a lot of physical stamina and was able to keep up with Hayama during the school marathon, something he attributes to riding to school on his bicycle everyday. Social Suicides Done by Hachiman * Confession to Kaori Orimoto- in middle school and was rejected as she wished both of them to remain friends, but they didn't speak to each other afterwards. The incident spread in their class, and Hachiman was ridiculed and bullied further. * At Chiba village summer camp- Hachiman planned to break the relationships of Rumi Tsurumi's peers who loathed and frequently badmouthing her for no valid reasons by convincing Yumiko, Tobe and Hayato to act as delinquents threatening them in order to expose their selfish nature to each other. The girls have intense quarrel with each other after "sacrificing" Rumi. At the end of the cultural festival, Tobe shared his opinion that Hachiman was seriously terrible and told his clique members that something not unlike the rooftop incident happened during summer also. * During the cultural festival planning committee members meeting- Hachiman suggested a slogan containing thinly-veiled, harsh criticisms on slacking off members and also Sagami's hypocritical own. This earned him contempt from them as they muttered what was wrong with him. However, this made the entire members started to fulfill their duties more seriously. * When Sagami refuses to come out of hiding and return to her duties as a chairwoman of the culture festival, even after being coaxed by the popular Hayato and her two friends, Hachiman berated her with harsh words and sneered at her unworthiness, causing Hayato to slam him against the wall. Sagami was moved when she saw the school idol defending her, and agreed to return. The incident spread among the planning committee members and throughout their school, drawing disapproval and disgust from them, as all of them were under impression that Sagami became a victim of Hachiman's behavior. Fortunately, there were some that were aware of Hachiman's true motive, and felt that he was very brave. As time passed, this blew over. * During Kyoto field trip- Hachiman falsely confessed to Hina Ebina in front of Tobe, who was about to do so, much to the shock of Hayato, Ooka, Yamato, Yukino, Yui and Tobe himself. Hina then solemnly replied that she was not yet ready to date anyone and will reject any confession, no matter who he is. Later Yukino then voiced her intense hatred of Hachiman's method and Yui cried as she asked him whether he didn't understand others' feelings. Fortunately, the incident was kept secret from their classmates, not to mention Hina was grateful for him keeping Hayato's clique intact. Addressed As / Nicknames Hachiman has earned several nicknames from others. He detests most of these names and gets annoyed with the people who use them but has reluctantly accepted a few of them. * Hikki by Yui Yuighama * Hikitani-kun by Tobe, Hina, Hayama * Hikio by Yumiko Miura * Haa-chan by Keika Kawasaki * Senpai by Iroha Isshiki * Hikigaya-kun by Haruno, Yukino ** Yukino has also called him Hikigerma, Hikifroggaya, Hikifoil, Mr. Most Hated Guy in the Entire School and Fishigaya. * Onii-chan by Komachi Hikigaya, Taishi Kawasaki * Monster of Logic by himself and most people Quotes *"What if... And this is strictly hypothetical... What if you could reload your save data to change your previous choice, like in a game? Would it change your life? The answer is a resounding no." *"Everyone has something they hold dear, something they never want to lose. That's why they pretend. That's why they hide the truth and that's why they lie.. but.. the biggest liar of all.. was me. *"I hate nice girls. Just by exchanging greetings with them will get them on your mind. Start texting each other, and your heart will be set a flutter. If they call you, you're done for. Enjoy staring at your logs and grinning like a fool. However, I won't be fooled again. That's what your kind calls kindness. If you are nice to me, you're also nice to others. I always end up nearly forgetting that. Reality is cruel, so I'm sure lies are a form of kindness. Thus, I say kindness itself is also a lie. I always ended up with these expectations. And I always ended up with these misunderstandings. And before I knew it, I stopped hoping. A highly-trained loner is once bitten, twice shy. As a veteran on this battlefield of life, I've gotten used to losing. That's why I will always… hate nice girls." My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 5; part B *"We only change to avoid the current situation. The true meaning of not running away is planting your feet firmly in the ground and doing the best you can with your present. Who's running away now? Why can't you just accept who you are and who you were?" My Youth Romantic Comedy is Wrong as I Expected Manga: chapter 1 pg.39 *"Hard work betrays none, but dreams betray many. Working hard alone doesn't assure you that you'll achieve your dreams. Actually, there are more cases where you don't. Even so, working hard at something is some consolation at least." *“Oh yeah? Good on you to notice. You’re right, I am nice. I’ve been through all kinds of things in my life, but I haven’t gone out for revenge on a single person at all. If I was any other normal person, this world would’ve ended already. You could even call me the savior of the world.” Hachiman to Yui *"Guys are simple creatures. They get the wrong idea just from getting talked to. They'd be happy just getting handmade cookies. They don't need to taste good." * "I hate private parties and inside jokes… Ah, but I do like internal strife. Cuz I’m not on the inside!” *"The world won't change, you must change yourself in this world. Now, how will you change yourself? Answer is, you become the god of the new world." *"We're back to how we started and can now live our own lives again. There's no reset button on life, but at least you can reset your relationships." *"People often say, "If I change myself, I'll change the world." That's a load of crap. People's judgment of others create a stereotype, and that's the impression that lasts. Loners are forced to do things alone. If you try to stand out by working hard at something, you just become a target for attack. It's the rotten rule of the children's kingdom." *"MOT is cool and awesome!" *"There's probably no one who's more of a realist than the unpopular loner. I have lived my life with the Three Nevers of the Unpopular: Never to hold (hope), Never to open (your heart), Never to treasure (sweet words)." *"Hey, stop getting so chummy with me, I might even start treating you as a friend." *"The rich want their private jets and beaches. So it follows that loners, who always have plenty of private time, are the victors in life. Ergo, being alone is the new status symbol." *“I want something genuine.” *"Life goes on regardless of whether you're laughing or crying, and your high school days will eventually draw to a close." *"It's not like I can't talk to people. I just don't indulge in pointless small talks." *"Life is something that can never be lived twice. Even this pointless act will eventually end. And while thinking that one day, I'll surely regret its end." *"Fake people have an image to maintain. Real people just don't care." *"See, it’s simple. ––A world where no one was hurt is now complete." *"There was no meaning to things that were only superficial. That was a single belief that both me and her once shared." *"Girls were made of sugar and spice, and all things nice." *"Everyone is a slave to their past. No matter how much you wish to move forward, the events of yester year will bear down on you like the light of the stars as soon as you glance up. Unable to laugh or to banish your past, you carry it ceaselessly in a corner of your heart, waiting for it to resurrect at an inopportune moment." Trivia *In Japanese beliefs, the name '''Hachiman (Japanese: 八幡神 Hepburn: Hachiman no kami/Hachiman-shin, also known as Yahata no kami) is the syncretic divinity of archery and war. Although often called as the "god of war", he is more correctly defined as the tutelary god of warriors. This was also explained during Zaimokuza's introduction in Episode 2 of Season 1.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hachiman **Notably, Yukino's quote on Episode 1 of Season 1, "We do not give a starving man a fish. We teach him how to fish and make him independent." is also a slight reference to how fishermen worships the god, Hachiman, as the god of agriculture and hopes to catch fishes in their nets. It is also a direct quote from Lao Tzu, a Chinese philosopher. *Hachiman has a list of people he wish to murder (naming his notebook's "People to Kill"), which includes Yukinoshita Yukino.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 2; part B *Hachiman used to have "spirit world diaries" and "government reports".My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: episode 2; part B *Hachiman likes the teachings of Buddhism, since he feels that his ideals match with it. *Hachiman likes MAX coffee which he seems to drink frequently. *Hachiman hates tomatoes My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime: OVA and insects. *Hachiman used to drink tea in the Service Club with a paper cup, but later Yui and Yukino gave him a cup with an image of Pan-San as a gift.My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU Anime Season 2: episode 1; part A *In the fandom Hachiman is occasionally compared to . **There was a scene where Batman takes all the blame for Harvey Dent's murders in The Dark Knight ''and it was very similar to how Hachiman took the blame for Sagami's failures during the Cultural Festival. **In an English fan sub of season 2 episode 13, Hachiman is wearing an "8-man" mask with a similar resemblance to Batman's mask. Twitter user skiddiks takes credit for the creation. *Hachiman enjoys eating at Saizeriya. *It was shown on the 2nd episode of the first season of the anime that he owns a Nintendo Gamecube. Then on the 7th episode, it was also shown that Hachiman also owns a Black . *Hachiman Hikigaya won an Award as Best Male Character Award held October 10, 2015 at the NewType Awards in Japan. Including his voice actor, Eguchi Takuya. *Hachiman's character and personality has some close resemblance to another character outside the series. Houtarou Oreki, from a 2001 novel and 2012 anime adaptation, ''Hyouka. Both were apathetic, introverted, and above all that, being known as both lazy yet clever when it comes to certain scenarios. They also have their messy-hair trademark, similar "dead-fish" eyes (although Oreki's are more drowsy in comparision), unenthusiastic emotions, and they were also being forced to join a club, which then later introduced another girl character as they enter the club for the first time in the very first episode (Oreki being met Chitanda Eru, while Hachiman met Yukino). Both Hachiman and Oreki are voiced by Adam Gibbs in English dub. References Category:Characters Category:Male Characters Category:Sobu High School Category:Class 2F Category:Service Club Category:Hikigaya Family